


Ruins

by ghostmaya



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hunk is Aang but they have different backstories, I didn't watch the ep while writing it though so i have no idea how accurate it is, I originally wrote this for a Hunk bang that kinda fell apart and here I am several months later, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Keith is 16, Keith is Zuko but they also have different backstories, POV Hunk (Voltron), Platonic Heith, Plot of 'The Firebending Masters', hunk is 16, this is pure self indulgence right here, this took me way too long to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2018-10-02
Packaged: 2019-07-23 16:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16162484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostmaya/pseuds/ghostmaya
Summary: Hunk brought his hand to the back of his neck. “Ancient ruins…” he started, half joking, “I dunno, are you sure it’s safe?”“Are you really worried about safety right now? Does it really matter?” Keith said.“Okay, okay,” Hunk said in surrender, “I guess it’s worth a try. If I die it’s on you though.”





	Ruins

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my extremely self-indulgent Voltron ATLA au featuring Hunk as the avatar the Keith in Zuko's role! It's been my pet project for a while and I'm happy to finally release it to the world :D  
> Enjoy!

“...Keith?”

“ _ Finally _ ,” groaned Keith, looming over Hunk, “I’ve been trying to get you up for almost a minute now.” 

It took a few moments for Hunk to process everything. Keith was staring daggers at Hunk. “Oh! We’re training! Sorry, I completely forgot man. Give me like, five minutes and I’ll be ready for you.”

“It’s fine,” he gritted out with a sigh, “just, don’t do it again, alright?” Hunk nodded, afraid that if one more inconvenience happened Keith would spontaneously combust. Keith quietly stomped out of the tent, and Hunk scrambled to get all his stuff together, finishing by grabbing the Fire Nation headband he’d stolen and hastily wrapped it around his airbending tattoo. 

Keith was warming up in the courtyard when Hunk finally got there. 

“Hey!” Hunk raised a hand and smiled wide.

“Hey,” Keith responded, not looking away from his stretches. Hunk’s smile fell for a moment, taken aback by Keith’s apathetic response, but shook himself out of it, hoping Keith didn’t notice. Keith brought his arms down from the stretch he was doing and crossed them. “Right. So, uh, today I guess we’ll start with some basic things? Some jabs, kicks, y’know, the normal stuff.”

“Okay  _ sensei _ , whatever you say,” Hunk teased, “What do I need to do?”

“Don’t call me sensei,” Keith snapped. Hunk stepped back, shrinking into himself. “I uh… please,” Keith corrected himself. 

“Will do, Keith,” Hunk croaked out, trying to muster a convincing smile. 

He continued smiling at Keith, waiting for instructions, but he stood there, unmoving.

Keith blinked a couple of times, finally realized that he had to do something. “Uh… I guess I’ll demonstrate a jab and then you can try and copy me?”

“Uh, okay, sure,” said Hunk. Keith was talking to him as if he was the one in charge. Hunk scratched the back of his neck and tried to look anywhere but Keith’s face.

Keith coughed and shifted where he stood.

Hunk watched Keith ready in his stance, bending his knees and raising his arms. In a swift motion, he stepped forward and jabbed into the air with a grunt. 

All that came out of his hand was a puff of smoke.

“Uh. Is that what’s supposed to happen?”

Keith didn’t answer and instead tried the same move again, grumbling to himself. Hunk watched as Keith got more frustrated, trying and failing to produce fire. Everything looked right to Hunk, based on how he’d seen firebenders attack countless times before. 

The puff of smoke was even smaller this time.

Hunk fidgeted, not knowing what do do with his hands. Keith tried again, even more sloppy this time. “Do you need me to help or--”

“Ugh, why won’t this work!” yelled Keith, stomping on the ground. He looked into the sky for a moment, breathing heavily, and turned to look back at Hunk, “I’m sorry… I- I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Hey, buddy, it’s alright, we all have our bad days!” said Hunk, walking up to Keith, “I mean, it took me like, four years longer than normal to learn airbending and that’s supposed to be my main element!”

“No, you don’t understand. This isn’t right. Whatever’s going on has never happened to me before.” Hunk glanced down at Keith, and the two of them looked at each other. Keith was rigid in his spot, shoulders and arms tucked into his body. It was as if Hunk was looking at a lionbird who didn’t know how to fly, lost, confused and in need of support.

“Keith, buddy, pal, my man, you’re gonna figure this out, okay?”

Keith’s eyebrows pinched together and he looked to the ground.

“You’re giving up to early! Let’s sit down and talk it through.” Hunk placed his hand on Keith’s arm, only to have it yanked away from him.  
“There’s nothing to talk through though, my bending is _gone_ and that’s the end of the story. You’ll have nobody to teach you firebending, and Firelord Kuron will win the war.”

“Well, now you’re just being unreasonable,” Hunk chuckled nervously, “Why do you think this is happening? Uh- what’s different now, than it was when you firebended before?”

“Well…” Keith said, still refusing to look at Hunk, “I’m with you guys now?” 

“Oh yeah! Maybe you can’t firebend now because you secretly still hate all of us?” joked Hunk.

“No, I don’t hate you. When I hated you I could firebend.”

“Wait. Maybe that’s it!” exclaimed Hunk, “You hated me when you could firebend!”  
“Uh… yeah. I just said that.” 

“No, I mean, what if you’re hatred for me was what was channeling your bending? I mean, that was your whole shtick! ‘Hi I’m Keith and I need to catch the honour to return my avatar’ or whatever.”

“Oh,” said Keith, “Oh no, I think you’re right.”

“Oh no?” Hunk repeated, “How’s that a bad thing?”

“Uh… hm… do you know my uncle Shiro?”

“Oh yeah, I love that guy! What about him?”

“Well, when he was training me in firebending he told me something like ‘Fire is a… uh… conductor’? Like how it eats wood or whatever?”

“Oh, yeah, the wise words of Shiro,” Hunk smirked.

“Shuddup,” Keith mumbled, and Hunk could swear he saw a glimpse of a smile. “Right, so he said ‘Fire won’t burn without wood. What’s the wood for your fire?’ I didn’t understand what he was trying to tell me then, but I think I get it now. My purpose for firebending before was to capture you… erm… no offense-”

“None taken.”

“But now… I don’t have a motivation… So my fire won’t burn. Ugh I hope that made at least a little bit of sense?”

Hunk blinked, a bit caught off guard from the last comment. “Dude, that made perfect sense, don’t worry about it! So all you have to do is find a new motivation, right? Maybe try channeling all your firebending rage at Firelord Kuron, or Lotor, I dunno.”

“I can’t just- ugh. That’s not how it works.”

“Aw, c’mon dude, work with me here,” said Hunk, pouting.

Before he could continue, Pidge’s voice yelled from a distance, “Hey, what’re you losers up to?”

“We’re trying to figure out how to get Keith to firebend again,” Hunk called back. 

“Hunk!” Keith hissed, as Pidge made her way up to the two of them.

“What, it’s true.” Hunk shrugged at Keith, who groaned.

“Woah, back up there,” Pidge started, “Keith can’t firebend? When did  _ that _ happen? It seemed just fine a few days ago when he accidentally burned me _. _ ”

“I told you I was sorry about that-”

“And I forgive you. I wouldn’t be making jokes about it otherwise,” said Pidge, smirking.

Hunk and Keith told Pidge what they’d gathered so far about the situation. 

“...so yeah, now we have to get Keith to learn firebending in a different way. Or at least that’s my theory,” finished Hunk.

“Just do what I did and learn it from the fire equivalent of a badgermole,” said Pidge. A second later her face contorted. “Oh god- it’s the sun isn’t it...” 

“That would be a dragon,” corrected Keith, “Well, they learned it from the sun I think so you may actually be right.”

“Great!” Hunk groaned, throwing his hands into the air, “Another dangerous adventure where we might die!” He sighed, and asked Keith unenthused, “Where can we find one?”.

Keith blinked, as if he wasn’t expecting the question, and looked to the ground. Hunk looked over to Pidge, and she seemed just as lost as he was. “Nowhere,” said Keith, “They’re extinct.”

“ _ What? _ ” both Hunk and Pidge said at once. That was definitely  _ not _ the case a hundred years ago.

Keith grimaced. “Shiro told me. Firelord Zarkon- he started making a sport of hunting dragons. It was like some sort of high honour or something to kill a dragon, I dunno, but they all ended up dead. Uh… Shiro… he killed the last one.”

“Oh man…” said Hunk, not knowing how to respond to that.

“Well, shit,” said Pidge.

“So… is there really no way of getting to the source of firebending anymore?” Hunk asked. His chest ached as the reality of what Keith had just said started to sink in.

“I think… well, there’s these legends of this old fire bending nation- or tribe called the Blade of Marmora, the first people who learned from the dragons.”

“Oh my god, how many stories did Shiro tell you?” Pidge groaned.

“Actually I learned about them in school,” Keith corrected her, “Yeah. So maybe, if we go to the ruins, they’ll have something about ancient firebending.”

Hunk brought his hand to the back of his neck. “Ancient ruins…” he started, half joking, “I dunno, are you sure it’s safe?” 

“Are you really worried about safety right now? Does it  _ really _ matter?” Keith said. 

“Okay, okay,” Hunk said in surrender, “I  _ guess _ it’s worth a try. If I die it’s on you though.”

 

* * *

 

Hunk stared down at the desert landscape whizzing by as he and Keith flew tens of miles above on Yellow. Buildings and splotches of green sprinkled the golden wasteland as Keith hopefully pointed them in the right direction.

Finally, a cluster of buildings accompanied by green plant life appeared over the horizon. Hunk directed Yellow to touch down right outside the gates of the ancient city.

“Why didn’t you land inside the city?” asked Keith as he slid off of Yellow. Hunk airbended himself down to the ground.

Hunk reached under Yellow’s chin and scratched him. “Uh, what if there was a booby trap right where we landed? Then not only would this entire trip end up being pointless, but we’d be dead.”

“Hunk. It’s an ancient  _ deserted  _ city. Why would there be booby traps?”

“That’s just what they want you to think,” Hunk said, approaching the gate. Hunk raked his eyes up and down the poles, trying to see if there was some sort of trigger that could be activated by walking through. He flicked his hand in it for a second, and nothing happened. He was about to motion behind him to give Keith the okay, but when he turned his head, there was only Yellow and flatland. He whipped his head back towards the city, and also apparently Keith, who was already ten feet into the city.

“Agh- Keith! Wait up!” Hunk ran up to Keith and glanced around to make sure they were safe.

“What is  _ up _ with you?” Keith asked, obviously annoyed.

“I’m just- I dunno this place gives me the heebie-jeebies.” A chill ran up Hunk’s spine.

“Ugh, just stick with me and you’ll be fine, alright?”

Hunk nodded, staying close to Keith as they walked. He wanted to retort, but Keith was probably right. So he bit his lip and took in the scenery. 

As he walked, he found himself surrounded by crumbling buildings lining the street. Many of them either had suns carved on the side, or this swooping symbol he assumed represented the Blade of Marmora. 

The sun beat down as it rose higher in the sky, and Hunk sweat under his headband. Humidity was emitting from the plant life growing wildly in the nooks and crannies of the abandoned city. 

Something brushed his arm when he wasn’t looking, and he jumped to the side with a shout. It was a leaf jutting out from a building. 

“Oh, thank god,” he breathed out in relief. 

Keith was still walking ahead. He hadn’t even bothered to make sure Hunk was alright. Hunk frowned. His patience was growing short, and it wasn’t because he was getting hungry. He cracked his neck and used an air boost to catch up to Keith again.

Keith walked at a steadfast pace as if he was a tank rolling forward to the control of an earthbender. Hunk had to speed walk to keep up with him, and he could feel a stomach cramp coming on.

“So uh…” Hunk started, trying to ignore the concentrated frown Keith wore, “do you know what we’re looking for?”

“Yeah, the main temple.” Keith pointed up in the direction they were heading. Hunk saw a long pole with an orb, which probably used to resemble a sun, poking out after a couple more buildings. Keith added, “Which we would have gotten to earlier if we had just  _ landed _ in front of it.”

“Ouch,” said Hunk, bringing a hand to his heart, “That hurt. Right here.” He patted himself a couple of times. “I, for one, think that this walking is a good thing, because it builds up stamina, and also gives us more time to bond as teammates and friends.”

“Right…” said Keith, dragging out the word, “And it wasn’t at all because you thought there’re booby traps in an abandoned city.”

“Hey, you can never be too ca--”

Hunk’s foot caught on a wire, and he fell forward at a rapid speed, the ground opening up to reveal rows of spikes. He shrieked and shoved his hands forwards, airbending himself to fly over the trap. 

As he flew through the air, time seemed to stop for a moment as he faced the ground. The spikes’ sharp points seemed to glint in the sun, his stomach dropping as he sore over his almost certain death.

He landed on his feet, his back facing the spikes and his heart beating wildly in his ear. 

“You okay, Hunk?”

Hunk turned to face Keith, who was still standing on the other side. “Physically, yes,” he answered, his voice five octaves higher than usual, “I think my brain will need a bit of time to catch up with reality though. Do- do you, uh, need any help getting across?”

“Nope, I’m good.” Keith didn’t give Hunk any time to process before he jogged back, ran up to the cutoff, jumped off, ricocheted off the wall and landed on his feet next to Hunk. 

Hunk’s jaw dropped. The two stood there in silence, giving Hunk enough time to steady his breathing out.

Keith stretched and brushed himself off. “You better not say I told you so.”

“Keith, I almost  _ died _ buddy, I think I’m allowed to tell you I told you so.” Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes. Hunk stood and locked in his elbows, airbending the grime off of him. He smirked down at Keith. “...I told you so.”

Keith crossed his arms with a humph, and walked off without saying anything. Hunk knitted his eyebrows. He couldn’t tell if Keith was genuinely pissed or jokingly pissed like Lance would be.

He sighed and followed after Keith, this time shuffling along  _ very slowly _ .

The two of them walked in silence. Hunk flicked his eyes toward Keith, trying to be as obscure as possible. Keith was frowning, but then again, he was always frowning. He looked back to the crumbling pathway and tried to focus on avoiding tripping on roots rather than whether or not Keith was actually mad at him. 

It’s not like it was Hunk’s fault. He shouldn’t be worrying about that, Keith willingly brought him on this trip with him. Well, there hadn’t actually been a discussion on who was going. Hunk airbended a little ball of air and tossed it back and forth.

Keith wouldn’t have been able to get here without Yellow, and Hunk  _ was _ the only one who could fly him. Hunk risked sneaking a glance over towards Keith, who hadn’t seemed to break his locked attention on the temple. 

Hunk didn’t even want to go on this trip. It was actually  _ Keith _ who suggested coming here and lead the way the entire time. Hunk didn’t have a say in any of their choices once. 

The two of them approached a set of stairs leading up to the temple, and Hunk groaned internally; this hadn’t exactly been the easiest trek. 

After what seemed like climbing a never-ending staircase, they finally made it to the entrance of the temple. 

“So, you’re  _ sure _ going in there will help you, right?” The pyramid-shaped temple looked daunting and untouchable, littered with sun carvings and foreign scripture. Greenlife had grown over the building too, just like it’d taken over the rest of the city.

“Nope,” answered Keith, approaching the door. Hunk raised his eyebrows. If they had come all this way for nothing he was not going to be happy.

Keith placed his hand on the door and gave it a push. It didn’t budge. He placed both hands on and tried pushing it again with a grunt. Again, nothing.

“There has to be some way in,” Keith said to himself as if Hunk wasn’t there to consult. Hunk crossed his arms and waited. 

He gave the entrance a once-over, spinning around the courtyard. Behind him, there was a large pillar with a sun on top, and in the sun there was a lense, like in the temple on Crescent Island. 

Keith was still trying to kick the door down. 

Hunk coughed into his fist.

Keith didn’t turn. 

Hunk walked up to him, sliding in right beside Keith and the door. He cleared his throat, saying in a high-pitched voice, “Oh, Hunk, my partner who is also on this trip with me, do  _ you  _ have any ideas on how to get into the temple?” Before Keith could respond, Hunk continued in his own voice, “Wow, I’m so glad you asked, Keith. In fact, I have actually encountered one of these temples before, and know exactly how to get in. It’s a really good thing that you asked me, the person who has traveled throughout the entire world, gathering valuable knowledge, how to get in. Otherwise, you would have ended up hacking at the door with no progress whatsoever.”

“Okay Hunk, I get the point,” said Keith, “And my voice doesn’t sound like that.”

Hunk pointed to the pole. “See that pole over there? When the sun hits the lens at just the right angle, it’s beamed onto that gem over the door, activating the quintessence inside and opening the door. The last temple only opened on the solstice, and my bet is that this one is the same deal. So, basically, we’re stuck.”

Keith wore a concentrated frown. “You said that it’ll open when the light hits the gem, right?”

“Yeah, but like I said, that only happens on the solstice- what are you doing?”

Keith had crouched down next to the spot where the sun was currently reflected to on the ground, and pulled out his knife. Hunk took a step back; he didn’t have many good memories with that weapon. The knife wasn’t going to be used as it was intended to in this situation though, he soon found out, as Keith stuck the knife right where the light beam was reflected. 

“Ah, nice thinking!” He watched Keith tilt the knife, trying to get the right angle. “You’re smarter than most people give you credit for, y’know... since your reputation is an angry impulsive prince.”

Keith didn’t answer and focused intently on getting the light to reflect onto the gem. Hunk could swear he saw Keith’s eyebrow twitch. He hoped he hadn’t gone too far again.

The reflected spot of light danced around on the temple entrance. It climbed over the intricate round doorway, and up to the carved design surrounding the yellow stone. It hovered around the gem for a moment, before settling right where it was meant to be. Hunk bit his lip, silently praying for it to work.

The jewel above the door glowed red and sent tiny particles of what Hunk assumed to be red quintessence down the entrance. As the quintessence trickled down the door, the tension finally oozed out of Hunk.

The door opened with a rumble, dust falling from the crevices that had gathered in the months since the winter solstice. 

“Nice going, man!” Keith was already putting away his knife, not bothering to look at Hunk. His smile fell; apparently, Keith still didn’t think Hunk was good enough to take a compliment from. 

Keith wasted no time waltzing into the temple as if he didn’t learn his lesson from the last trap they’d triggered. Hunk followed close behind his heels, the wind from outside muting as they entered the pyramid. 

Inside, Hunk was greeted by a huge chamber, with a row of statues circling a giant mosaic on the floor, Keith headed right for the middle. Hunk stopped in his tracks, taking in his surroundings. 

“Woah,” he breathed out. The whole place was squeaky clean, but still had an air of fragility to it. He noticed that a barred skylight at the very top of the pyramid shone light down to the floor, bringing out the colours of the mosaic. He breathed in the same air ancient firebenders breathed eons ago. 

He followed Keith onto the beautiful mosaic floor. The statues towered over them, and Hunk tilted his head up to the first one, a firebender posed with his arms out and legs bent. Hunk turned around, seeing that every statue was of a different pose. 

“I think we should do it,” said Keith, snapping Hunk’s attention to him.

“Do what?”

Keith pointed at the statues. “It’s called the Dancing Dragon. I think it’s an ancient firebending routine.”

“So you think this’ll help us learn firebending?”

“Well, it’s worth a try.”

Hunk bit his lip and turned back to the statue looming over him. The stone face looked straight forward, hard and focused. Hunk slowly spun around in his spot, trying to imagine each statue being one person performing a ritual. He let his eyes rest on the two statues that met in the middle. A chill went up his spine. 

“Okay,” said Hunk with a nod, “I’m game.”

Keith raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. He walked to the right of Hunk and positioned himself in front of the statue. Hunk did the same.

“Ready?” asked Keith.

“All good,” Hunk replied. He stepped into a lunge. The tile under his foot sank, and his heart stopped for a moment. He twisted over to Keith, and their eyes met. Keith’s expression seemed to say that the same had happened to him, but unlike Hunk, he was eager to continue. 

Hunk swallowed down all of his anxiety and looked back up to the next pose. He stepped into it. His foot sunk again. 

Next move, same thing. Same with the next, and next. He danced all around his half of the circle without a single arrow shooting out of any walls. He was on the second last step, and so was Keith. 

Keith shot Hunk a smile, right before the two finished, fists aligned together. 

The ground under them rumbled, and the floor in the middle of the room opened up. A pillar with a golden shaped egg sitting on top rose from underneath. Hunk and Keith watched in silence as the pillar rose, and stopped. Nothing happened after that. 

“Well, that was helpful,” said Hunk, turning to Keith, “Did you at least figure out how to firebend?”

Keith, once again, didn’t pay any attention to Hunk as he was already standing next to the egg.

“Keith! You better not touch that! It’s literally the most obvious trap that there could possibly be!” 

Keith paid him no mind and picked up the ornament. Hunk pulled at his eyelids with a groan. 

“Maybe-” 

Hunk would never know what the rest of Keith’s sentence would be, because black goo came bursting out of the pillar, shooting Keith to the ceiling.

“Keith!” Hunk shouted out. He shot a current of air up at Keith, making him face the open skylight.

The tar covered the floor and rose faster than Hunk expected it to, catching Hunk in it before he got the chance to bend anymore. He tried to move his limbs, but to his horror, he was stuck in the goo. 

His mind went into overdrive. In panicked flashes, he somehow found himself facing towards the sky with his face trapped in bars. 

“...Hunk! Hunk, answer me!”

Hunk blinked a couple of times, focusing on Keith’s voice coming from beside him. The sky was too bright, so he closed his eyes.

“Breath, or something, I don’t know. Calm down. Please? I don’t know what to do...”

Somehow, Keith being inconsiderate once again actually grounded Hunk, and he was able to focus on his breathing. It was difficult to do so, especially because his entire body was stuck in tar, but he started managed to calm down somewhat.

He allowed his thoughts to start flowing again like Monk Gyrgan had taught him to do when he panicked. The evening wind whistled over him, cooling his face.

“Are you good now?” Keith asked. Hunk didn’t answer, staring at an orange cloud near the sunset, trying not to pay attention to the fact that he couldn’t move, and that it was Keith’s fault. It didn’t work. “I don’t mean to, well, jump right into it, but we have to figure out our way out of this. I tried firebending but it didn’t work, and I thought maybe your avatar powers or whatever could help--”

“Keith,” Hunk said through his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Is that a yes?”

“Are you kidding me, dude?” Hunk interrupted, “We are stuck in an ancient temple in the middle of nowhere with literally no way of getting out! How do you expect me to use my avatar powers ‘or whatever’?!”

“I’m sor--”

“And don’t start with your excuses again, dude, really. We are  _ supposed _ to be a team here, and I haven’t felt like you’ve actually taken me seriously a single time for the entire day! Not once did you acknowledge my input, ideas, or anything. You’ve- you’ve been going along as if there isn’t a second person with you, and it’s- it’s really getting on my nerves, okay! Also, you trapped us in tar because you didn’t listen to me which I’m also not so happy about either. So, yeah.”

Keith was silent for a moment. He spat out, “Well, you haven’t exactly been a good team player either, okay? ‘Contributing to the team’ doesn’t translate to ‘being unwilling to move forward.’ Zarkon’s comet is almost here, and we just don’t have enough time to be careful.”

A booming voice shook the building, stopping Hunk from retorting. “Who’s stuck there?” 

 

Keith and Hunk sat stuck together in goo at the base of the temple. They were surrounded by about thirty warriors, who Hunk could only assume to be members of the Blade of Marmora. 

Waves of fume radiated off of both him and Keith, but neither of them said anything.

Two unidentifiable animals were licking the tar off of Keith and himself that the Marmorites had brought with them. Hunk stared at the animal as if they were the source of all his problems.

“The two of you tried to take our sacred orb, and you will suffer for your crimes,” the leader announced. The other Marmorites looked forward, emotionless. 

“Wait hold on-” Hunk started, immediately forgetting his anger, “we weren’t trying to take your egg, or whatever it’s called! We didn’t even know it was sacred!”

“Then why have you come here, if not to steal our treasures?” the man said, still not convinced. 

“We came here to learn the ancient firebending methods of the Blade, sir,” said Keith.

“Don’t let these thieves fool you, Chief,” snarled the woman standing beside the Chief. 

“Listen- er, Chief, I’m the avatar,” said Hunk, lifting up his headband with his newly freed hand, “and I kinda really need to learn firebending, and right now all the other firebenders are kinda at war with me, or off the map, or can’t firebend for some reason, so...”

The animals got to the last of the tar, and Hunk’s body started to gain its feeling back. Keith stretched out his arms and stood. 

“What Hunk is  _ trying _ to say,” said Keith, offering Hunk his hand, “is that the art of firebending has been lost with the war, and we wish to learn the ways of the Blade of Marmora.”

Hunk stared at Keith’s hand for a moment, before grasping it and standing next to him. He didn’t look at Keith’s face.

The Chief and the woman who spoke out before made eye-contact. Hunk wanted to look at Keith, but stopped himself.

“If you wish to learn the ways of the Blade, you will have to face the Ancient Masters. There they will judge you, determining whether you’re worthy or not.”

Hunk gulped. “Wh-what happens if you’re not worthy?”

“You will perish,” the Chief said.

“Right. Of course,” said Hunk, “You would  _ think _ ancient masters would be more creative with their punishments, but no, they always go for the kill. Isn’t that just grand.”

“So… do you wish to see the masters or not?”

“Sorry- yes. It’s been a long day, y’know?” said Hunk. Keith groaned beside him.

 

* * *

 

The sky was filled with stars, reaching from one horizon to the other, brightened from the absence of a moon. The only thing to contrast the navy blue sky was the massive flame, burning bright at the base of the mountain Hunk and Keith had been taken to.  

The flame burned around 10 feet from him, with a line of drums, and Marmorites standing behind each one, in between. 

The two Marmorites next to the flame raised their hands, capturing the attention of everyone around, and on sync brought them down to hit their drums, sending the beat reverberating into the air. The next two followed, and soon a plethora of colourful sounds swam into the air as the entire line of people became animated. Hunk wanted to look over to Keith, but instead, he stared intently at the bouncing hands.

The beat shrunk into a steady rhythm, as the two who started it approached the giant flame, bending fire from it and letting it grow into an ever-rotating ring they spun in front of themselves. Hunk watched in awe as the fire seemed to gain a life of its own as the two people passed it onto the next Marmorites, the drumbeat never ceasing. 

Hunk became mesmerized by the rings of fire, being split and passed, dancing effortlessly through the air. He had never even realized fire could be used for something this beautiful. 

Finally, the fire was passed to the last two people, standing next to Keith and Hunk, and they lit the poles. 

“The eternal flame has been kept alive from generation to generation, since the formation of the Blade of Marmora many eons ago,” The Chief's voice boomed across the courtyard, “In return, the flame gave life to our ancestors, to us, and will continue giving to our children. In order to be judged by the Ancient Masters, you will present a piece of the sacred flame, kept alive by you.”

All eyes were on Hunk. His throat ran dry, and he gulped. He stared at the blazing pole, sensing the delicacy of its legacy. Heat radiated off of it, and he didn’t know whether his sweat was from that or fear. He stared at his hands, the same ones that had burned Lance all those months ago. He let himself look at Keith.

The light of the fire reflected off of him, clashing with his purple streak of a scar running down his cheek and his violet eyes. The light was washing over him like waves, and Keith was letting it. He raised his hands, slowly, and took the flame, cradling it like a child. 

He stepped away from the flame, fire in his hand. Hunk turned to his own flame, hands still empty. The heat was getting uncomfortable, and walking up to a giant stick of fire was harder than it looked like. A bead of sweat rolled down his face from under his headband. 

Fire doesn’t control him, he controls fire.

He stepped up and reached out his hands. It tingled, but it didn’t burn. He took fire in his hands and moved back next to Keith. The fire started to shrink.

“Nonononono,  _ fire _ ,” he whispered. “Keith, help me.”

Keith looked less than impressed. “Just keep your breath calm and the fire will breathe with you.”

“That’s easier said than done.” He tried taking in a shaky breath, and the fire shook with him. 

He only realized that he had talked to Keith again when they started climbing the mountain. 

 

* * *

 

The fire danced in his hands as he climbed higher and higher up the mountain. It was getting increasingly hard to breathe, and continuously colder. The tiny flame he held was not helping. Keith was about ten feet ahead of him, as per usual. 

Now that he had time to think about it, he may have been a little too hard on Keith. A bit. A wave of dizziness washed over him. Okay, maybe thinking wasn’t the best plan in his current situation. 

He stared down at the pathetic excuse of a pathway and continued on. 

Rock. Dirt. Dirt. Another rock. He was really thirsty. He stared up at Keith, who was somehow making his way up this mountain as if he did it every day. Hunk stared down at his fire. It was way to small. He groaned to himself and continued on.

Finally, a bridge appeared in his site of vision. 

“Man-made structure, woo,” he wheezed out, trying to sound excited.

The landing evened out, and Keith stood waiting for him. 

“What happened to your fire?” asked Keith, as Hunk caught up with him.

“Yeah, it kinda died, do you think the masters will mind?”

“Yes,” said Keith, as the two started making their way onto the bridge.

“Okay, so I’ll just try and make it bigger.” His voice was an octave higher than normal. “It can’t be that hard, right?”

The fire puttered pathetically in his hand. He took a big breath in, the fire growing with him, and then he breathed out, the fire shrinking. Just as he was about to breathe back in, a gust of wind blew by, and the fire disappeared completely. 

“Keith.” Hunk whispered, his heart thumping in his ear.

“What?”

“I need some of your fire.” There is not enough air here to get panicky.

“ _ What? _ ”.

“Just, let me bend some of yours, Keith, please, I don’t want to die here.” His voice cracked. He reached out his hands, trying to bend a bit of Keith’s fire over to him. Keith lifted his hands away.

“Stop trying to take my fire,” said Keith, evading Hunk’s hands. Hunk, in his last efforts, tried grabbing Keith’s arms to bring down the fire to him, but he mistakenly only grabbed one, and when he yanked it towards him, Keith’s fire dissipated into the air.

“Hunk! What the fuck man! Why would you do that!?” Keith sounded more distressed than angry. 

They were both going to die. This was it. This was the last of him. Dead on a mountain with his ex-enemy/new teacher, and he couldn’t even manage to spend a day with him without getting into a fight. This was so stupid.

His throat went tight as tears welled up behind his eyes. 

“Keith.” Hunk grabbed him on the shoulders, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I’m so, so sorry. I- I really shouldn’t have done that-” he sniffled- “And I shouldn’t have yelled at you for not being a good teammate- be- because I know how hard it is for you already just- just to be on our side! That was really incon- inconsiderate of me, and now we’re both gonna die and Kuron’s gonna win the war and it’s all my fault-”

“Hunk!” Keith yelled, stopping Hunk, “I’m- I’m sorry too, okay? You were right, I- I didn’t listen to you, and I should have. It’s- it’s okay, it’s not your fault.” He gave Hunk a shaky smile. “Both of us made it here together, and if we work together we can make it out.”

Hunk sniffled and smiled down at Keith. “H- hey. I thought that I was supposed to be the inspirational one.”

Keith smiled back. 

Two giant dragons flew up over the bridge, the wind rushing into Hunk’s ears and ruffling his clothes and hair. He still held onto Keith’s shoulders, as the massive beings swooped up and around where the two of them stood on the bridge. 

They were so close, Hunk swore he could make out the shining scales of the red and black creatures, as they continued flying around Keith and himself in a loop. 

“I thought you said dragons were extinct…” Hunk whispered, hoping Keith was close enough to hear him.

“That’s what Shiro told me,” said Keith, obviously in as much shock as Hunk.

Hunk knew that this was certain death, but he couldn’t help but smile, tears sticking to his face, watching the dragons dance in the sky. 

Everything suddenly clicked. He grabbed Keith’s hands. “Keith.”

“What?” he answered, his hair blowing wildly in the wind. 

“We should do the Dancing Dragon.”

“Why-” Keith started, skeptical, but stopped himself. He softened his voice. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s do the Dancing Dragon.”

Hunk smiled, and let go of Keith.

The two of them positioned themselves. The wind whistled in Hunk’s ears so loudly that he couldn’t hear anything else. He looked over to Keith for his queue. Keith nodded.

He lunged into his first position, slicing through the air. He continued circling the bridge, focusing on where his arms and legs were and where they were going next. He let the continuously circling dragons lead him, be his drum beat, his guide for each step he took into every position. 

As he circled around the bridge, he didn’t have to look at Keith to know that they were in sync. He finally understood Keith, not fully, but in more ways than he had ever thought he would. 

Keith didn’t hate him. In fact, it’s the opposite. Keith doesn’t know how to treat a friend, and he’s struggling. 

The two of them finished the dance, fists aligned. Hunk was out of breath, but he didn’t care. 

The dragons continued to circle them, and Hunk’s heartbeat coursed through his entire body as he waited for their next move. 

They stopped, hovering there, staring right at Hunk. It felt like a stone was lodged in his windpipe. Time seemed to stop, as he braced himself for the blow. 

The fire went up. 

Beautiful fire, dancing, swirling around him. He couldn’t look away. 

There were multitudes of colours, all mixing, changing, growing, intertwining in beautiful harmony. It surrounded Hunk’s entire field of vision and engulfed his other senses too. 

The smell of campfire reminded him of home, of all the late nights spent with his friends, eating, laughing, carefree. The warmth the fire emitted wasn’t scary, it created a sense of secureness, it felt like it was something he could interact with. 

The fire breathed, just like he did. 

This was what firebending was.  

Then, it was gone. 

Keith broke the silence. “I get it now.”

Hunk didn’t reply as the two of them made their way down to the group of Marmorites waiting for them. 

“That was amazing,” Hunk finally said, not to anyone in particular.

“Yes,” the Chief said, “The masters deemed you worthy, and shared the ancient secrets of firebending.”

“I still can’t believe that there are living dragons, everyone thought that my uncle Shiro had killed the last one.”

“Actually, Takashi Shirogane was the previous outsider to face the masters and be deemed worthy, just like you, Prince Keith.”

Hunk smiled down at Keith. 

“Thank you,” Keith said, bowing. Hunk followed suit. “It was an honour to meet the Blade of Marmora, and for you to share your rituals with us.”

“Do not thank us, it was the masters who you should thank for sparing your life,” the Chief chuckled, “I do not think I’ve ever witnessed them sharing their wisdom to those who had lost their offer of the eternal flame.”

Hunk laughed awkwardly. “Well, I guess we did  _ something  _ right.”

“Yes, I suppose. Safe travels home, Avatar Hunk and Prince Keith. And the next time you see him, tell Takashi ‘greetings’ from the Blade of Marmora.”

“Of course,” smiled Hunk.

 

* * *

 

The wind ruffled Hunk’s hair as they soared through the air in silence. He was lying on Yellow’s neck, arms and legs crossed as he lazily took in the scenery whizzing by. 

“Hey, Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.” He fiddled with the reigns, still looking forward. 

“What for?”

“For taking me with you on this trip.” He steered Yellow towards the air temple he could barely make out in the distance. “I can see now how I was being  _ kind _ of a nuisance back there.”

“Yeah, you kinda were,” Keith joked, “But you were right, I wasn’t exactly being a team player.”

“Huh?” He craned his neck around to look at Keith with fake confusion. “What was that? Could you repeat that again? I could have  _ sworn _ that you just admitted to being wrong, but that can’t be right. Could you say that  _ one  _ more time, just to make sure I heard you right.”

A loud groan came as a form of an answer. 

Hunk had a feeling that firebending lessons were going to be a lot more enjoyable from then on.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](http://ghost-maya.tumblr.com/)


End file.
